Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

Started by mass_citizen, December 04, 2013, 10:46:35 PM

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CoreySamson

#10025
Here are some of the more interesting signs from my road trip this week that I was able to take pictures of:

Horrible picture, but this is supposed to be a construction exit sign for FM 365:


Clearview numbers in Louisiana:




I was pleasantly surprised to find some grated guide signs still extant in Mobile. To be honest, I like them better than typical signs! This is just one of several examples:


Interesting curve warning signage entering the Mobile tunnel:


Some enormously bloated county shields in Dixie County in Florida:


An overweight US 98 shield in Panama City, FL:

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TBKS1

Yeah Alabama's grated signs are pretty cool, I'm glad to see the one in Mobile is still up.

There's one in Birmingham as well, although I took this back in 2020 and I have no idea if it's still there.

I take pictures of road signs, that's about it.

General rule of thumb: Just stay in the "Traffic Control" section of the forum and you'll be fine.

TheCatalyst31

Quote from: CoreySamson on January 08, 2025, 07:37:39 PMAn overweight US 98 shield in Panama City, FL:



Hey, if I had to sit next to the Waffle House all the time, I'd be pretty wide too.

freebrickproductions

Quote from: TBKS1 on January 08, 2025, 11:16:52 PMYeah Alabama's grated signs are pretty cool, I'm glad to see the one in Mobile is still up.

There's one in Birmingham as well, although I took this back in 2020 and I have no idea if it's still there.



I'd have to double check the next time I'm in the area, but I think that may be gone now? ALDOT's been on a replacement spree all across the Birmingham area as of late. Still a few up here in Huntsville, however. Two on the Parkway and four on US 72 around AL 255.
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

pderocco

Quote from: TBKS1 on January 08, 2025, 11:16:52 PMYeah Alabama's grated signs are pretty cool, I'm glad to see the one in Mobile is still up.

There's one in Birmingham as well, although I took this back in 2020 and I have no idea if it's still there.


GSV shows the 78 shield as intact in 2018, peeling off in 2019 and 2020, and gone since 2021. They really don't give a crap, do they.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GXrabzDBeXd2wy6cA

74/171FAN

On SR 4193 just east of the SR 611/SR 635 intersection in Fairfax County, VA

SR 4193 EAST EAST OF SR 611 AND SR 635 by Mark Moore, on Flickr
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

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Ted$8roadFan

I noticed the grated signs too while driving through Mobile a couple of years ago. I wonder why Alabama seems to be one of the few places that have them.

freebrickproductions

Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on January 09, 2025, 06:53:54 AMI noticed the grated signs too while driving through Mobile a couple of years ago. I wonder why Alabama seems to be one of the few places that have them.

They were standard here for a bit, it appears.
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

74/171FAN

On Edsall Rd in Alexandria, VA, PY is being used for Parkway here.   :no:

EDSALL RD AT YOAKUM PKWY by Mark Moore, on Flickr
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

Travel Mapping: https://travelmapping.net/user/?units=miles&u=markkos1992
Mob-Rule:  https://mob-rule.com/user/markkos1992

1995hoo

Quote from: 74/171FAN on January 09, 2025, 06:35:00 AMOn SR 4193 just east of the SR 611/SR 635 intersection in Fairfax County, VA

SR 4193 EAST EAST OF SR 611 AND SR 635 by Mark Moore, on Flickr

That's Hayfield Road, not too far from where I live. I've always found the sign slightly peculiar because there's never been access to Route 1 via that street, but I suspect the sign is there because the road is very much overbuilt for what it is—it provides access to that neighborhood and then abruptly ends, despite having the median, so it looks like it ought to go somewhere. I've never looked at historical road plans to find out whether it was originally supposed to connect to Route 1. Regardless of whether such plans existed, it'll never connect now due to wetlands issues and because there is a fairly new street a short distance to the southwest that does connect.

Incidentally, there are various other neighborhoods along nearby South Kings Highway that have essentially similar signs but with "Route" spelled out in full. There, the issue is more legitimate—in order to prevent commuters from blasting through the neighborhoods at high speed to take a shortcut, the streets that would allow for a connection are blocked off midway through. One of them even has a sign about camera surveillance, I guess to discourage people from trying to cut through the barrier or drive around on the sidewalk or some such.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
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commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
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74/171FAN

At the Greenbrier Shopping Center in Bel Air, MD

GREENBRIER SHOPPING CENTER by Mark Moore, on Flickr

MD 22 WEST WEST OF MOORES MILL RD by Mark Moore, on Flickr
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

Travel Mapping: https://travelmapping.net/user/?units=miles&u=markkos1992
Mob-Rule:  https://mob-rule.com/user/markkos1992

formulanone

#10036
Behold, the Department of Energy shields for the Savannah River Site...

Ok, they're basically MUTCD-spec county road shields in South Carolina, which doesn't sign its "county roads" this way.

roadman65


North NJ 71 to use the Crosswalk.



NJ 71 is straight but the evacuation route and Garden State Parkway is left.  Yet being its a reassurance shield it gets no arrow.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

1995hoo

^^^^^

I think that horizontal "No Turn on Red" sign is the most interesting one in that picture.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

wanderer2575

M-134 at Elizabeth Street in De Tour Village.  I don't think the bottom sign is MDOT-spec.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZaVX1h2r85kS8eek8

mglass87


roadfro

Quote from: mglass87 on January 13, 2025, 11:34:15 PMAn interesting way to mount a stop sign:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y1GTHmvcNcakhNq86
I've seen mountings like that due to overhead/lateral clearance (coming out of a parking garage) or over a sidewalk, but this is the first time I've seen it for no discernible reason.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Mapmikey

Quote from: roadfro on January 14, 2025, 11:22:13 AM
Quote from: mglass87 on January 13, 2025, 11:34:15 PMAn interesting way to mount a stop sign:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y1GTHmvcNcakhNq86
I've seen mountings like that due to overhead/lateral clearance (coming out of a parking garage) or over a sidewalk, but this is the first time I've seen it for no discernible reason.


This is why:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/i2x3LZQtFTfQcHfs5

US 89

Quote from: freebrickproductions on January 09, 2025, 03:44:48 PM
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on January 09, 2025, 06:53:54 AMI noticed the grated signs too while driving through Mobile a couple of years ago. I wonder why Alabama seems to be one of the few places that have them.

They were standard here for a bit, it appears.

I've heard that they were used because they were more resistant to hurricane winds, which would explain why there are more of them in Mobile than further north.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: US 89 on January 14, 2025, 01:13:18 PM
Quote from: freebrickproductions on January 09, 2025, 03:44:48 PM
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on January 09, 2025, 06:53:54 AMI noticed the grated signs too while driving through Mobile a couple of years ago. I wonder why Alabama seems to be one of the few places that have them.

They were standard here for a bit, it appears.

I've heard that they were used because they were more resistant to hurricane winds, which would explain why there are more of them in Mobile than further north.

There was one on I-495 in not-hurricane prone Wilmington, DE on a relatively low-level bridge over thr Christinan River. The need of such a sign was over-enginnered and overkill for the area. It's since been replaced by a larger, but more standard, BGS.

TBKS1

Quote from: formulanone on January 12, 2025, 09:09:48 PMBehold, the Department of Energy shields for the Savannah River Site...

Ok, they're basically MUTCD-spec county road shields in South Carolina, which doesn't sign its "county roads" this way.

This kinda reminds me of the Marine Fuel Tax routes that Arkansas uses

I take pictures of road signs, that's about it.

General rule of thumb: Just stay in the "Traffic Control" section of the forum and you'll be fine.

roadman65

Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

kphoger

Quote from: Rothman on January 16, 2025, 08:32:19 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on January 16, 2025, 07:55:20 PMhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/54270709173
Evacuation route miles from large coastal waterways.

Dude...it's Wilmington...

I mean... technically... it is "miles" from the Delaware River.  3½ miles as the crow flies, to be exact.  :-D
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Male pronouns, please.

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TBKS1

I know it's a temporary sign but I happened to see this on AR 122 in Independence County earlier today...



These may be more common elsewhere, first time I'd ever seen this sign though.
I take pictures of road signs, that's about it.

General rule of thumb: Just stay in the "Traffic Control" section of the forum and you'll be fine.



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